BET Awards 2018: Viewers Get Emotional During Humanitarian Awards Presentation

During the 2018 BET Awards, audiences at home got emotional during a special humanitarian awards [...]

During the 2018 BET Awards, audiences at home got emotional during a special humanitarian awards presentation. The group of recipients included a survivor from the Parkland, Florida school shooting and the man who saved lives at a Nashville Waffle House.

BET usually honors a celebrity for their humanitarian efforts every year, but instead chose to highlight the work of black activists at the 2018 awards. The honorees were introduced by John Legend.

James Shaw Jr. was honored for his actions on April 22. He jumped into action to stop a gunman at a Nashville Waffle House. He also launched a GoFundMe page to raise money for the shooting victims.

Anthony Borges is one of the victims of the Feb. 14 Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida. The 15-year-old helped save 20 of his fellow students, and was shot five times himself. He stood on the stage in crutches at the ceremony.

The other recipients were Naomi Wadler, a fifth-grader and the youngest speaker at the March For Our Lives Rally; Justin Blackman, the only student who walked out of his North Carolina school to protest gun violence; Mamoudou Gassama, a Malian migrant who saved boy in France; and journalist/activist Shaun King.

Here is how audiences at home reacted to the emotional ceremony.

One viewer was surprised that Mari Copeny, who has pushed for clean water in Flint, Michigan, was not honored.

Another viewer loved how they handed out the award this year.

One viewer thought Legend was the perfect presenter for the awards.

Another viewer thought all six activists deserved the award.

Photo credit: Twitter / @RWwatchMA

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